Find out what the Connector Programme is, how to start co-creation projects and how our team can support you.
The Connector Programme
The Connector Programme enables and supports staff to work with students as equal partners, collaborating on a piece of project work to improve the student experience.
Students and Staff who work together are called Connectors. Projects can last from a couple of weeks to a whole academic year, a few hours per week, and must be flexible around students’ other commitments.
Programme aims
- support the delivery of the University of Sussex Strategy 2025 through co-creation between staff and students, including the University’s Access and Participation Plan (APP), transitioning to the new Strategy 2035
- engage students in active participation with the evolution of their Student Experience, including opportunities to advise the university on putting policy into practice where student experience is directly affected
- involve students in dialogic practice to ensure student voice is embedded into policy and process development at the university.
Student benefits
- provision of paid and flexible work opportunities, supporting their studies during their time at university
- development of meaningful, evidenced work experience, supporting graduate outcomes after Sussex
- supporting all students, and particularly those from underrepresented backgrounds, to thrive and develop a sense of belonging at the University.
Staff benefits
- providing you with an informed student perspective and enthusiastic participants for a fresh approach in your area of work
- funding for Student Connectors’ hourly pay (and occasionally for project deliverables)
- support with training, development and networking opportunities to ensure that your students are supported to develop during their role
- supportive and inclusive practices that amplify the voices and needs of students from underrepresented groups, supporting positive change in your area of work.
“It was rewarding to see students from such diverse backgrounds visibly growing in confidence and learning together during the project. The completed report is of a fantastic quality and contains many evidenced, feasible recommendations for change.” – Anonymous Staff Connector, 2024
Co-creation projects
The Connector Programme is primarily funded by the University’s Access and Participation Plan budget. Our projects generally need to support (directly or as part of whole-university activities) access, success or progression for underrepresented home-fees undergraduates.
Current priorities
- Support for student groups where there is a specific identified gap in outcomes or experience at Sussex, and/or in your school,
- Support for student groups who face additional risks to access and success, in general, across the whole HE sector: see the OfS Risk Register.
What we're looking for in a proposal
We're interested in proposals that:
- aim to have a positive impact on some aspect of the student experience
- have a defined aim, that can be completed and evaluated or measured in some way (this could include research or gap analysis to inform future work)
- involve strong collaboration between staff and student Connectors
- support student Connectors to develop evidenced skills for future employment
- have a clear, achievable and flexible plan in place to complete the project alongside staff and students’ other commitments.
What we offer you
We'll help you by:
- refining your co-creation project proposal
- advertising and taking initial applications
- templating materials for interviews or selection activities
- supporting for induction and HR / new starter processes,
- providing advice and resources to support your Student Connector project team,
- guiding you on project evaluation.
A set of expectations for Staff Connectors are in place, including a code of conduct and guidelines for the time commitment needed to support your Student Connectors. Reach out to the Connector Programme team at any time, and make use of the of available resources, to get the most out your project.
If you'd like to submit a proposal for a co-creation project, contact connectorprogramme@sussex.ac.uk in the first instance with a short summary of your aims.
If your project is suitable for a co-creation project, we'll ask you to complete a more detailed project proposal form. This will help you set realistic objectives, follow previous best practice, and inform you of current expectations. This'll be reviewed and we'll confirm if funding can be allocated.
- Connector Programme impact
Since its inception in 2020, hundreds of Student Connectors have supported more than 50 projects, working with staff from across the University to make positive change across academic and professional services.
Connectors have been involved in projects such as:
- the development of our Access and Participation Plan
- making recommendations for assessment strategies
- building careers and placement support
- planning new student spaces on campus
- creating transition programmes for new students.
As a programme, we aim to over-represent and amplify the voices of undergraduate students from groups that may be minoritised or face barriers to success in UK higher education. In the 2023-24 academic year, 139 students took part, and 70% were from underrepresented backgrounds identified by the OfS.
Typically, participating students earned £500-£2000 in 2023-24, supporting the cost of living through flexible roles built around their studies, while building meaningful evidence of employable skills.
- Awards and achievements
The Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services (AGCAS)
The Placement Connector Team 2020/21 led by Claire Colburn and Jasmin Tse won The Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services (AGCAS) Supporting Student / Graduate Employability Award 2021 at the AGCAS Awards for Excellence Showcase.
They showed effective development and implementation of an initiative with the ultimate aim of improving student/graduate outcomes. Fourteen students were employed as Placement Connectors working through the entire academic year, creating high-quality, high-impact and stable student jobs. The main aim was to help placement searchers in their departments to acquire placement years.
One of the AGCAS Final Judging Panel said: "The impact of this outstanding project is strong, with impressive evidence of student's voice. The project's goals are clearly aligned with what is important to students. Placements can be quite anxiety-provoking for students, and Student Connectors are a brilliant idea."
The Sussex Education Awards 2021, Learning Together award
The Sussex Education Awards celebrates outstanding care and compassion towards students.
The Learning Together awards for staff and students who have worked closely together, collaborating on the teaching experience.
In 2021, the University of Sussex Business School Assessment Connector Team won the Learning Together award, for their project which enabled the co-production of refreshed assessment criteria for the School. This was a true staff-student partnership, which sought to drive change in practice within the School.
- Staff Connector Stories
Academic Skills
Clare Hardman (Academic Skills Manager) and Georgia Shakeshaft (Media Studies Student and Student Connector) discuss how co-creation has improved academic skills support at Sussex.
Clare Hardman:
“Students are now at the centre of what we do. Our Connectors are passionate and they want to make changes – it is inspiring and exciting to work with them. Their voice reminds us of things that are important to students and helps us to focus on how we deliver our academic skills services.”
Digital
Professor Claire Smith (Head of Anatomy at BSMS, Deputy Pro Vice Chancellor for Education and Innovation at Sussex) and Jessie Phillips (Psychology Student and Student Connector) discuss the importance of co-creation in making Sussex Direct and Canvas accessible and user-friendly.
Professor Claire Smith:
"The Digital Connectors are core to the development of the digital environment at Sussex. As we all live digital lives we need to ensure that the digital ecosystem supports our lives and learning. The Digital Connectors are important to enable the student experience and voice come through on all we do in this."
Media, Arts and Humanities
Professor Mary Krell (Director of Teaching and Learning in the School of Media Arts and Humanities and Emma Green (American & Film Studies Student and Student Connector) speak about how co-creation helped faculty think creatively about assessment and feedback.
Professor Mary Krell:
"One of the things I love about our Connector groups is that each works a bit differently. On some projects, the Connectors discussed issues around assessment and feedback. Another included a brief to help us seriously rethink assessments to make them more inclusive and better suited to what we teach. I think that the flexibility to support different styles of co-creation is a key reason the Connector Programme is so great."
Read more on the Student Hub. - Frequently asked questions
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Can non-academic staff work with student Connectors?
Yes! Co-creation projects are for all aspects of the student experience, so we welcome proposals from both academic and non-academic staff.
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Can all students be connectors?
The majority of paid roles are funded by the APP budget so will be prioritised for foundation and undergraduate home students from specific backgrounds, but some paid projects will be open to other student groups.
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How are projects funded?
The budget for all co-creation projects comes from the Connector Programme (students’ hourly pay, and potentially some additional funding for project deliverables). The majority of projects are funded by and must support the aims of the Access and Participation Plan, but central funding may be available for projects which do not have underrepresented students as the main focus.
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If the project’s objectives are to improve the university for the whole cohort, is it less likely to be approved?
We review all projects on a case-by-case basis. Our aim is to approve as many projects as possible, but where funding is limited we'll prioritise projects that directly contribute to named Access and Participation Plan objectives.
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Do staff connectors need to be a certain grade?
As a guide, staff of grade 5 and above can manage Connector projects. As you will be involved in recruiting and interviewing for your roles, Staff Connectors are expected to have completed Unconscious Bias, Diversity in the Workplace, and Recruitment and Selection e-learning packages through LearnUpon.
The Connector Programme team are here to support Staff Connectors with the line management and recruitment process.
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